Anniversary
by Lady-Pyrien
Summary: Mora reflects on how she met Aaron and how she fell in love with him one night at work. Angrality, alternate universe. sort of. branches off my other potral fic  aaron-anger, mora-morality, curi-curiosity, logan-logic, flynn-fact, alex-space, rick...rick


This story is set in the alternate universe I wrote in my other portal fic: Broken Mirror. If you haven't read it or don't plan to, all you need to know it in the world the A.I. and robots are all human instead and vice versa.

I finished that story ( just haven't updated all the chapters yet) and I realized I have veerryyy little angrality, and that's one of the couples I really like.

Well I was drawing them and I drew this one pic that made me come up with this whole thing x.x I'm dead right now because this is seriously the longest continuous thing I've ever written, at 10,000+ words without this authors note T^T and I worked on it all night. XD

I hope I portrayed morality and anger/emotion cores decently! Well, enjoy!

XxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Mora glanced up from her paper work and her head tilted slightly as her eyes wandered over Aaron's face. His bright flame red hair was spiked up and forward, like it had been for a long time. He was bent over the small table, in his seat directly across from her. The brilliant red eyed darted over the page in front of him.

'Strange,' Mora noted, 'He's usually not one to read anything…' Aaron usually spent his time alone in his room practicing his martial arts, something Mora didn't approve of, yet was happy that it gave Aaron an outlet for his anger.

The man had always had a temper with a fuse so small, no one but she could see it. It was that temper and anger that made her fall in love with him in the first place.

Mora had known Aaron for many years, as both of the twenty-six-year-olds worked directly under Glados as her personal council. Her violet eyes traced his features as she recalled the first day she applied to be Glados' personal advisor. It had been a little over five years prior.

XxxxxxxxxxX

Long raven hair whipped behind as the girl rushed down the hallways. Her face was flushed and her breath short from running. She was well known for her high standards when it came to morals, but it was sometimes a curse. She wanted to be ready for the interview, but in order to be ready she had to make sure her clothes were right, and her files all put together properly, leaving her with less time to make it to the main lab than she originally planned.

The door opened and she stepped inside, collecting herself, before proceeding to a small table where several people were seated, getting prepared to be interviewed for the few positions being offered.

Mora recognized a few of them, however she didn't get along with most of the ones she did know. Ever since the labs were shut down from the outside world, Aperture had become its own little city. Meaning growing teens and adults (who weren't given any specific tasks for work, yet) had to find new ways to entertain themselves so that they did not get under Glados' skin.

Of course with most teens and young adults, alcohol and parties were at the top of those lists, so usually the living quarters were always festive. Mora never really liked those things, and it was in her nature to try and persuade others to turn away from such things before they ruined lives. Aperture was only so big and only so many people could live here. Getting drunk could lead to other things and Mora disliked the thought of premarital relations, getting drunk, and of course wasting youth on things that one would usually regret later in life. It's just who she was.

She sat down and instantly the whispers began. 'Boring Mora's here for the job?' 'She's such a stick in the mud!' 'Why would Dr. Glados hire her for anything?' 'She could always be a wet blanket…' Laughter directed at Mora filled the small table.

Her violet eyes hid her pain well. Honestly, most of the things she heard were normal and they only left dull aches anymore. Glados walked in and smiled a very false smile, "Hello, and welcome to this meeting. As you all know, I am hiring spots for a private council of fresh, new, innovative minds ready to help me further science."

She passed out a small stack of papers which outlined the positions she needed taken care of, what those positions required one to do and what requirements were needed from the person applying.

The first one was simple. Logic. She needed someone who could easily and quickly do calculations in their head as well as the ability to hold knowledge correctly in mind.

Secondly, there was Morality. This position required a thinker who could predict all outcomes of any decision and make proper choices that were best for everyone. Safety was a must.

Another was Curiosity. Someone who could be willing to learn about anything and always ask 'why?' and keep the procedures moving forward. He/She would have to be naturally curious and able to ask the most obscure questions when needed.

The final one was Emotion. This required the person to know how a human works emotionally and therefore be able to apply how a person reacted to what ever new development Aperture was putting out. He/She would have to take this product and dig out exactly what possible buyers there could be. Such as the portal back pack. It had many great and useful uses, but this person would be the one to discover the motherly instincts to have one set up for a mother and her crying child, to reduce the time it took to get there. Or the anger of a war hero fighting for his life and using the pack to end the war.

Mora frowned looking over the list. Did she even have the qualifications needed?

"You won't need to bother with the Emotion position…we have already applied someone to that spot." Glados spoke while sitting at her main desk.

At that moment the doors slammed open revealing a tall twenty-one-year-old man. He had messy red hair, pulled in all directions, with different lengths, almost as if he cut it himself blindly. He had dark red eyes and a scowl across his face.

Mora had seen him before, usually hanging around those parties the others threw. He didn't often interact with anyone, and no one really knew who he was. His mother was an Aperture employee a few years ago, before she died of radiation poisoning. That was all Mora knew of him.

Whispers spread quickly around the table as he approached Glados and handed her some paperwork. He was wearing a grey uniform, outlined in red, with a matching red 'eye' belt, standard wear for most of Glados' personal employees. Except the white gloves were replaced with black fingerless gloves. His clothing was disheveled and barely put together, with the shirt unbuttoned at the top and hanging wrinkled around his neck.

His eyes drifted across the table with disinterest, until they met Mora's. He stopped for a split second, before turning away and walking back out.

"He has a temper…one time he yelled at my older sister just because she accidentally stepped on one of his old jackets. He called her all sorts of names and she started crying…it was awful…"

"Well I heard there's nothing you can do that won't make him angry…plus…have you seen the way he dresses? It's like he doesn't even care that he works _directly_ under Glados…I mean he has almost as much power as she does!" the group continued spreading relentless rumors about the red haired boy.

The hour passed and Mora handed in her sheet, having applied for the morality and logic spots. She figured if she got the job at all it would be for one of those two spots. She was often more curious than she should be, but once she'd come out with all her decisions, there was no more asking, only doing.

Glados tilted her head looking at the girl in the purple sweater. A sly smile graced the woman's lips and she waved of Mora.

XxxxxxxxX

Mora smiled softly and sipped at her coffee. Aaron was still reading whatever it was that he was reading, and Mora couldn't help but smile again. He was always so quiet when he was concentrating. It must've been a report he was reading, because he usually never read anything else.

The girl silently remembered the one day she was forced to go to the library for something Glados needed.

XxxxxxxxX

Mora chewed her lip. After the big shock of being hired for the Morality position, she had spent the next week busier than ever, doing research and making sure all Glados' choices were sound. So far, the woman hadn't had any luck finding the last two positions, however she had her eyes on a couple of younger children. An eleven-year-old girl, who never ceased to stop asking questions about anything that crossed her path, and a thirteen-year-old boy and his twin brother. Both boys were being considered the Logic spot, but it seemed one of the boys often misread his facts and usually remembered them wrong, so he was probably not going to be offered the spot, but maybe something else in the library of Aperture.

The girl scanned the book shelf for the book Glados was needing her to read, "Um…" she frowned, not being able to find it. The registry said it was still on the shelves, but perhaps someone had grabbed it?

Her eyes darted around, hoping to find the person before it was too late. Panic gripped her heart as she realized she could get fired the first week over this. She picked up the middle of her long grey skirt and started hurrying around the library as fast (but still proper for indoors and inside a library) as possible. Finally, her eyes caught sight of the book and she let out a soft sigh.

"Thank goodness," she whispered, "Excuse me, can I bor-" Her eyes widened slightly as she recognized her co-worker. He was the one who held the Emotion spot on her team. He had been drawing on the pages of the book.

He looked up with hatred burning in his eyes. She bit her lip and put her gloved hands behind her back, "You must be my new team mate…you know, for Glados?" she whispered, holding out one of her hands. He looked at it blankly and glared up at her.

"So?" his low voice sent shivers of intrigue and fear running down her spine. Mora felt a cold sweat run down her back.

"I'm Mora…" the girl pulled her hand away.

"And? Why should I care? I don't care. Leave me alone before I really make you regret even applying for that job." his one was curt and filled with poison that Mora didn't quite understand. She didn't want to take it personally, but why did it seem everyone hated her? Maybe she was over thinking things… something had to be going on in his life that caused him to be this way. According to everyone else, he had emotional problems, mostly anger issues, but maybe he was a heartfelt person, taking nearly everything personally and letting it get to him.

Mora smiled lightly, "Well…I kind of need that book for an assignment…Glados needs me to get it for her…"

The young adult looked up at her with the darkest look he could muster. She didn't see the fuse light, nor did she see the bomb going off until he was standing over her by five inches. The book lay forgotten on the floor in a heap pf bent pages.

"Listen here and listen good. I DON'T WANT _**ANYTHING**_ TO DO WITH YOU! I just asked you rather nicely to leave me alone and go away! Is that really THAT HARD for YOU to understand?" he was breathing heavily with fists clenched at his sides, "You're supposed to be the MORAL one! SO don't you HAVE enough moral to leave me the hell ALONE?"

Mora was taken aback by this, but stood her ground. Through her clenched throat, she muttered, "I only asked for the book that Glados wished me to get." With that she turned on her heel and walked slowly out of the door. It wasn't until she was safely behind her door that she leaned against it, sliding down slowly, that the let loose the torrent of tears.

XxxxxxxxxX

Mora shook her head and sipped the coffee again. It had definitely been a rough start, but she was glad he finally came around…it wasn't until a few months later that Aaron actually showed up the mandatory meetings.

XxxxxxxxxX

Glados was waiting patiently for the new recruit to show up, as well as the one missing member.

Mora's eyes darted to the door as a girl dressed in a short grey dress and white gloves and black boots flounced in. She was the eleven year old girl, Curi, who was being taken out of Aperture's school system to be taught while working.

"Oh, you must be the other lady on the team? Hi! I'm Curi! What's your name? Where's the other guy? I thought there was supposed to be another…what do I have to do at this job? Mommy said I was too young for work, but daddy said that Glados is a good person who can teach me well! Is that true? Are you going to teach me math and art and history and science? Of course you're going to teach me science! I'm so silly!" Mora smiled gently at the girl who was shushed by Glados.

The red haired guy walked in and Mora turned away. While it had been a few months since she'd actually seen him, the memories of him yelling were still fresh on her mind.

He glanced at her will pure anger, but sat down anyway. Glados passed around the ideas for a new project: the Aperture Science Thermal Discouragement Beams and the Aperture Science Thermal Discouragement Beam Redirection Cube.

Mora frowned that they were terribly hot and could actually cause quite a lot of damage to a person who would most likely come in contact. So far tests had shown that they cause third degree burns everywhere they touched and prolonged exposure could cause spontaneous combustion.

"Glados…is it safe to test such a thing…it seems dangerous and deadly…what use could it possibly serve the normal person?"

"Obviously it can be used in warfare as well as most international banking systems. Hell, even Curi here could figure that one out…and she doesn't know anything." The man across from her growled.

Curi frowned lightly, "I don't know anything? I thought I knew a lot? Glados do I know stuff? What don't I know? Why is Aaron being so mean to me?" Curi began to cry and Mora's heart wrenched. She reached out and rubbed the girl's back lightly.

"Aaron," Mora used his name for the first time, having just found out what it was, "I was only questioning the use of something so dangerous. So yes, a bank can use it as a block for their establishment, but what good is something that could possibly kill the owner, as well?" she raised her brow and patted the child's back, until she stopped crying.

Glados grinned, "I knew I made the right choice for my council. Meeting dismissed until next month, I have things to do…"

Mora glanced at her mentor and boss and nodded, then turning back to Aaron, who seemed irritated that Mora would point out the flaws in his argument. She tilted her head. If he was this way with familiars, such as co-workers, did he act this way to strangers, too? Did he have any friends? Or even someone to talk to when he was feeling all of this emotional rage?

The violet-eyed girl looked down and sighed. As much as his words had hurt her…he was probably hurting more than she was. His father was on the outside when Aperture was shut down, while he had been in daycare. There was no way in, no way out. His mother died not long after…he was all alone, wasn't he?

Why did she have to be such a do-gooder? Mora bit her lip and made up her mind. She would become his friend and become that person he could trust and talk to.

XxxxxxxxX

Mora leaned on her hand and elbow as she looked up at the television screen. It showed the news and what was going on with the weather, well at least from more than a decade ago. It had been nice out there, of course…Mora hadn't felt nice weather since she was younger…much, much younger…possibly seven? She shook her head and the memories away, preferring to steal another look from the man in front of her.

He was always so devilishly handsome when he was concentrating on something. His brows furrowed and his lips became nothing but a strait line, showing nothing but the utmost determination to complete his task…it was similar to the first time she tried to get him to sit down and talk to her…

XxxxxxxxX

She tied her hair up in a high ponytail and smiled in the mirror. It was one of her days off, and while she still had to wear her uniform to have access to the best parts of Aperture, it didn't mean she had to always look the same when the building was under a heat wave. Summer had set in above ground and with that, the air-conditioning system usually broke down for a day or two, if there was a drought. It had been fixed the day before, and after much suffering, the building was slowly returning to a comfortable 70 degrees.

Mora had decided to spend this day scouting out who would become Logic for the group, and since Glados had her eye on the twins, it would probably be a good day to spend in the Nature Center.

The walk there was short and sweet. Since she had been working under Glados for four months now, she was gaining respect quickly, making her quite happy that now, when she gave advice to those in need, most took it. If Glados trusted her judgment, then why shouldn't others?

The doors to the Nature Center slid open for her when she scanned her 'eye', on the belt. She stepped inside and felt the humid air hit her harder than she had expected. Mora bit her lip and continued in to find the boy named Logan.

She stopped when she spotted some beautiful flowers growing in a pot on a long table. They were a deep violet color and had a rich, sweet smell. Mora bent over to smell them. The scent filled her with a calming feeling, despite the humidity in the room.

"Oh, I wasn't expecting anyone else today!" a female's voice sounded from behind the girl. She jumped and turned, seeing an older woman holding a pot of some strange vine in one hand a pair of gardening shears in the other. Behind her were two young teens, one being a blue eyed boy with dirt smeared all over his clothing, the other was clean and well kept with glasses in front of his pink eyes.

"Um, Hi! I'm Mora from-"

"Oh, sweet heart, I know who Glados' right hand woman is!" the woman set down the plant and shears, then took off the gardening gloves, "I'm Rose, head of the botanical studies here." Mora shook her hand happily.

"Nice to meet you, I'm actually here to talk to Logan…Glados has taken a special interest in his abilities to store information easily…I also heard he was pretty good with math…" Mora smiled looking down at the twins. The pink-eyed one looked away and crossed his arms.

"Fact…Logan is not as smart as everyone thinks he is…" The woman turned and put her hands on her hips, "Flynn, stop being so mean to your brother…Well, it was nice meeting you," Rose smiled, leading her son away.

Logan looked up at Mora with blank eyes. She twisted uncomfortably and bit her lip, unsure of how to go about talking to him finding out if he was proper for the position, "So…um…is it true that you are a logical thinker?"

He shrugged, "I guess so…I like plants and cooking…I also know that plant you sniffed a little bit ago has side effects to inhaling its aroma…"

Mora turned back to the plant and then to the child, "What kind of side effects?"

Logan yawned, "If you have to ask, you're not experiencing them…" He turned and began messing with what Mora assumed was one of his plants, "But it has a pheromone effect…attracting the opposite sex…"

"Um…okay…what are you doing over here?" she looked down at the plant.

"I'm just repotting this plant…it may not look like much but it's one of the more potent ingredients in the neurotoxin produced here…" He clipped a dying piece from it. Mora watched him for a second, before being startled by a loud crash behind her, followed by a stream of angry cursing.

Aaron was behind her yelling about how he'd just dropped one of the vases filled with important flowers. Rose came running back in, "It's okay, sweetie, don't worry about it…here," she started picking up the broken pieces, "You go take care of that cut…" she pointed to his hand which was cut open from the glass.

The red-hot tempered man turned, nodding, and walked to the small sink in the back of the room to wash his hands. Mora raised her brow, expecting this the last place to see him. Slowly she made her way to him, intent on putting her plan to be nice to him into action.

"Aaron? I didn't expect to see you here…" she whispered softly, her eyes darting to his, directly. Proper body language would tell him that she was being open and honest, allowing him to see into her and see her intentions. But he looked away with fire burning in his eyes.

"It's none of your damn business where I go and what I do!" he ground out through clenched teeth. Mora pressed her lips together and took another small breath.

"I was only curious…besides…it looked like you were having trouble…would you like to talk about it?" her voice was steady and calm. In all honesty, she hoped it would pass to him and he could say more than five words to her without resulting in him screaming and her feeling like she failed to make him feel like he had someone to talk to.

He turned, with the fire intensifying, "It's Curi's job to be curious. And NO I DON'T want to TALK about it!" his voice was beginning to grow louder. "What is your OBSESSION with me? Why can't you take the hint that I would rather see you shattered on the floor than spend a moment talking? You don't get it do you?" he turned away and began wrapping his hand with a bandage. His hand slipped up and ended up freshly ripping the wound open again.

Aaron screamed out and grabbed the nearest thing to him and threw it across the room, hitting a potted plant, busting the thing open.

Without missing a beat, Mora took hold of his hand and stuck it under the water, washing the blood away, before drying it with a small towel. She grabbed the bandages from him and cut a new strip, which she carefully wrapped around his hand. The girl made sure it was tight, but not too tight.

"There you go…" she whispered calmly, letting go of his hand and looking directly into his eyes. The fire had burned down slightly. He looked down at his hand and turned away, walking out of the center. Mora sighed and began helping Rose clean up the messes he had made.

"You don't have to, dear…he's been going through a rough patch lately…I knew his mother, you see. She was a wonderful person and loved her son so very much…I took him in when he had no where else to go…since Glados wouldn't even let him out to his father…" Rose slowed down and began talking like she was buried deep in the past. "He never actually learned how to deal with his mother's passing and he couldn't understand why he couldn't see his father…It built up. I can't say I approve of the way he deals with every little thing, but he's like a son to me and when he moved out of our living quarters, I worried about him even more…when he does come to visit…he still has no friends. I was excited when he got the job working for Glados, but it's been several months and look at how he treats you…I can only imagine that things aren't getting better." She closed her eyes and put on a smile, "Well, it's good to see someone being nice to him…who knows, it may rub off on him." Rose finished cleaning the mess up, "Now you get on out of here, I can handle a few broken things. Glados must have a ton of stuff for you to be doing!"

Mora smiled and stood. She didn't really, but she hadn't expected the day to be a total disaster. Logan had disappeared somewhere, leaving her with a failed mission.

She made her way into the halls, which felt extremely cool, despite being around 80 degrees still. The morality councilwoman closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Suddenly she found herself pressed against the wall with intense force. Her eyes opened to be face to face with Aaron's blazing red ones. Anger poured out his entire being.

Mora fear her heart speed up. There was no one around, and even she knew almost all of the walls and doors of Aperture were sound proof, so no one would hear her scream. Aaron had one of her arms pinned to the wall with his bandaged hand, the other had been in a fist and had punched the wall panel beside her head.

Her eyes darted from side to side, searching his eyes. She let a light breath go, calming herself down, before searching his eyes again. Passed the anger was a little bit of fear…sadness…regret? Mora was finally beginning to understand why he kept people away. She let a smile cross her lips.

"I hate you. I loathe you. I want you to just disappear…" he growled lowly. His grip tightened on her hand and she winced as pain started spreading through her arm, but she did her best to keep her smile up. It was all she could do. It was the best she could do. She knew that's what he needed most.

Why did she have to be such a well mannered and moral person?

He leaned forward and Mora smiled for real this time. He was finally going to let go and cry on her shoulder, so to speak. She doubted Aaron was the type of person to cry, but maybe he would open up and let-

Mora's eyes widened to the size of saucers. He had pressed his lips harshly onto hers. She didn't know how to react, really. How should one react when they were forced against a wall and their first kiss was stolen by someone who had just claimed to hate them? He began to move his lips against hers roughly.

The girl calmed down. Despite it being stolen…she couldn't help but feel electricity run down her body. Soon she felt her lungs scream for air and he pulled away, not even looking at her as her left her standing in the hall way confused and sad, because she hadn't wanted it to end. She shook her head remembering what the younger boy had said not long ago about the plant.

"Oh…I forgot," Logan tapped her shoulder, startling the girl, "This is actually just a violet…" he held up the small potted flowers. The pheromone plant was moved to the cryogenics freezer last week…I thought you ought to know…" he walked back inside, the door sliding shut behind him.

XxxxxxxxxX

Mora smiled fondly remembering how that first kiss had felt. It wasn't long after Aaron said it was to instill fear in her heart. She didn't believe a word of it now, but then…she guessed he just had to tell himself whatever he had to make sense of what was going on.

Her coffee mug had long ago been drained and she was fighting off a yawn. Night had set in even longer ago and she was still just waiting for Aaron to finish reading that thing of his. It was actually starting to bother her because he wouldn't say what it was.

He really did have problem sharing anything but pure rage for others…but she always brought out the best in him…

XxxxxxxxxX

Logan agreed to join Glados, as long as it didn't interfere with his botany and cooking. He mostly kept to himself, but had a great deal to offer the group. He was always on time and usually brought some treat or something that he had made. Mora quickly learned that his pastries and baked goods were absolutely amazing.

The five were sitting down reviewing Aperture's next study. Apparently Glados was wanting to take robotics to a new level and begin developing artificial intelligence.

"What does artificial mean? Is it a good thing? It doesn't sound like a good word, but intelligence is so I guess it's an okay word, unless it's a bad word. Mora, is artificial a bad word?" Curi nibbled her cookie, reading over the page.

"No, it means false, or man-made, like artificial limbs are body parts made for those who lost their real ones." the raven haired woman explained.

"Oh, so artificial intelligence is-"

"It's just a damn robot programmed to act human even though it isn't!" Aaron growled. Mora looked at him, but he refused to even acknowledge her. It had been like this the past few days. Ever since that kiss, he hadn't said a word to Mora. She didn't mind of course. As long as she sent him little smiles when he behaved and frowns when he was being rude, then she was sure the message was getting through.

Now she was mustering a frown at him. She didn't approve of him being so mean to Curi, when she was only eleven.

Curi had also learned to accept his meanness. She didn't even look phased when he yelled at her like he did. She laughed, "Oh okay! I get it now!"

Glados rolled her eyes, "As you can see, I want to up the robot technology we have here. A.I. will give us the ability to do more testing, getting out products up to par with expectations. Imagine how much we can get with the computer finding all the things we can't." she grinned, "We'll be beginning it next week, but for now I'll need you four to start hunting down the best of our robotics crew to start this project. I'll also need some study on a way to create a personality for a computer…so you two." her voice was sharp, as she looked at Curi and Logan, "Will start that. And you two, get me the best team of engineers you can find for this project." Mora looked at Aaron, who just scowled and stood up.

She followed him, but he only sped up. Mora frowned lightly and tried to catch up, but he just ignored her, even as she begged him to slow down.

Eventually, she gave up and decided that they would end up in the same place. The moral girl took her time walking to robotics, sending smiles to everyone she passed. Pleased with how everyone smiled back, some even bidding her a fond good afternoon, she pressed the lift button to take her up to the next floor, where robotics was.

The first thing she saw when arriving was a man lying on the floor with a busted lip. Mora felt queasy, seeing the blood all over his jaw.

"What happened?" she demanded another person she saw. The woman shook her head.

"Aaron showed up and suddenly lost it…he hit Carl and then suddenly stormed off…" she muttered.

Mora let out a groan, as she went to hunt him down. She searched everywhere, but Aaron was no where to be found. She leaned against a wall and rubbed her face. She couldn't give up, though. Glados would already be furious that he assaulted a potential engineer of the project, but things would only get worse when she would find out it was Mora who lost him and allowed it to happen.

She felt guilt start weighing her down. It quickly became too much and the violet-eyed woman began searching again. This time she heard crashing noises coming from a break room. Loud thuds and crashing were coming from inside. Mora took a deep breath and entered the room, not prepared for what she saw.

The red-haired man was sitting in the corner of the room breathing heavily from over exertion. Chairs were thrown around the room, vending machines were dented and the plastic covers were crushed and broken. Doors from the cabinets were hanging by hinges or completely ripped off and somewhere completely opposite of the cabinets themselves.

Her attention turned back to Aaron. Tears were streaming down his face.

"GET OUT!" he screamed, standing up. Mora refused to move, even as he walked fast paced up to her and slammed his fist into the wall behind her. She winced hearing his fingers snap from the sheer force.

"I SAID GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" the man screamed directly in her face, but she stood her ground, even going do far as to raise her hand and press it to his face, lightly wiping away the streams with her gloved hand.

"You shouldn't have punched that man…it was wrong of you…now will you tell me what's wrong with you." it wasn't a question. She was demanding he open up this time.

Aaron stood shocked that she hadn't even reacted to him and his rage. He stumbled back, his hand turning purple and blue, while throbbing and swelling. The man grunted in pain and gripped at the broken hand, causing more pain.

Mora walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a rag and walked to the freezer. Inside, she found a couple bags of frozen vegetables.

The injured man glared at her and held his hand away, assuring her he didn't want nor need her for anything. The more she tried to ice his swelling hand, the more he pulled away and yelled.

Finally, the straw fell. The one that broke the camel's back. She reached back and with all her might slapped him across the face. His insults were immediately cut off. Silence filled the room as the echo of the slap faded.

He turned to face her and pressed his good hand to the red cheek. Mora felt guilt wash over her, but he was being childish, so it was for the greater good, right? She shook the thoughts of guilt from her mind and she picked up the bag and placed in gently on his hand, and then tied the rag around it, to keep it in place, as she took him to the hospital wing.

Mora was finally pleased that he was actually doing as she asked him without resorting to screaming. In fact, he said nothing the entire way. She was still feeling awful about hitting him, but he was only going to injure himself further by fighting her like he had.

The doctor ex-rayed the hand, finding he had only fractured two of his fingers and serious bruising along his knuckles.

"It's actually not as bad as it should be for punching those panel walls…you're getting off lucky, mister, but don't let me catch you in here again for this kind of injury again, okay?" she laughed fixing the bandages up with splints, so that his hand could heal properly. "Okay, it'll take awhile to heal, but won't heal properly if you do any kind of lifting at all. Don't go ramming your hand into doors walls or anything else, or else you could mess up the bones while they are healing, causing almost permanent damage. Come back here in a few weeks and we'll check the progress, okay?" she walked off to get him the painkillers he would be needing for the next few weeks.

Aaron stared blankly at a wall, probably not hearing anything the doctor said to him. Mora just sighed and walked over to the chair he'd thrown the bag of half frozen veggies. She picked it up and walked over to him, pressing it lightly to his swollen cheek. His red eyes darted to hers, actually meeting hers for the first time with out anger.

She bit the inside of her lip lightly, clearly seeing his pent up sadness and various other emotions usually masked by anger.

"I-I'm sorry about that…the slapping you…I just…I was worried about you hurting your hand any more than you already had…" she muttered moving the bag to a colder spot.

"Why?" he whispered. Mora blinked. This was the lowest his voice had ever been.

"Because a fractured finger or two still hurts, but imagine more fractures or even a break. It wouldn't be ple-"

"No. Why were you worried?" his eyes bore deep into hers. It was starting to unnerve her a little.

"Because, you're my co-worker and I'd even go so far as to say you're my friend, albeit, the friend that likes to yell at me and what not, but still…" she moved the bag again.

Aaron pushed her hand away, causing her to drop the veggies on the bed he was sitting on. He looked away, "Today…was the anniversary of my mother's death…"

It all made sense now. Mora should have guessed. He had been more irritated than ever, plus the destroyed break room was more than enough evidence to say that something had been truly bothering him.

"I'm so sorry…what…what was she like? Your mother?" Mora had no idea if she was doing the right thing by asking. Would it make him fly off the handle again? She hoped not.

He smiled, making Mora do a double take, "She was wonderful, smart and funny…no matter what was going on…she always found time for me. When I was upset she used to sing this little song her mom sang to her…" his eyes fell downcast, "She always had this perfume on. I still remember the way it would smell when she'd read to me at night…I miss her…more than anything…and it's NOT FAIR!" he yelled dropping his head into his good hand.

"I hate this place! I HATE IT!" Aaron's voice rose quickly, "IT TOOK HER AWAY! It didn't help that this damned place already took my dad away, too! He's up on the surface doing who-knows-what, maybe even dead!" he choked out a dry sob.

Mora instantly found her arms wrapped tightly around him, rubbing his back, like she'd done for Curi so many time before. He gasped lightly, but buried his face in her shoulder, wrapping his arms around her waist. She wasn't too surprised that he didn't actually cry, but having him know that she was there for him was all she wanted.

They must have been sitting there for what seemed like hours. Mora let her calm breathing washing over the room, creating peace for both of them, something she figured he'd been needing for a long time now.

XxxxxxxxxX

That was the first time he'd opened up to her. Mora leaned back in her seat. It was also the first day of many where he'd break down and just talk for hours about his mother, his father, and various other things. Of course it didn't stop him from being angry, but he always seemed more calm with Mora around.

XxxxxxxxX

"So the plans are ready, then?" Glados asked the engineer, who was developing the chassis and internal workings of their main A.I. So far the few A.I. they had built before, with one having escaped during the night. They hoped to have the proper programming set up in time to be put in the system, which Glados named CHELL.

Mora was writing down a few notes to give to the engineers developing the personality program. She was seeing multiple flaws in the morality section, mostly that the A.I. either had too much or none at all.

It had been a month since they started the A.I. project and they made a little bit of progress, but it wasn't going fast enough for Glados. She was getting impatient waiting for them to get the programs right. At least she was content that they were building the final A.I.

Mora yawned, feeling sleepiness set in. It was actually getting late for her. The girl rubbed her eyes and looked around the room. Curi was sleeping face down on her book, while Logan was studying a few recipes. Aaron was…Mora's eyes darted around the room to see he was missing. With him having just having got the splints off, he was still supposed to be careful with his hand. She had taken it upon herself to make sure he didn't get into trouble.

She jumped up and sighed in relief finding him grabbing some soda from the fridge, "You know that stuff is bad for you…" she muttered, leaning against the counter. He turned to her and popped the can open, before downing it. Mora shook her head, smiling.

"So is being so uptight…you need to get out of your quarters more…" he threw the can into the trash can.

"Hahaha," Mora mocked laughter, "by fun you mean?"

He shrugged, "I dunno, we could probably find a party to crash?" he looked at her. His messy hair once again looked like he'd taken a knife to it in the dark.

"You know how I feel about things like that…" she said almost like it was a pre-recording in her automated answering machine that she sometimes considered a brain.

Aaron laughed and grabbed another soda and slid it to her, "No one has to know, princess…you need to let loose and have some fun." she looked down at the can he'd given her and she picked it up, studying the can for a minute before setting it down.

"Okay." Mora smiled, "I'll go with you to crash this party…" he grinned in triumph, "…if you let me cut your hair from now on…I mean really…you should look a little more presentable with the position you hold here at Aperture…" she reached up and ran the tips of her fingers through the uneven hair.

"What? Seriously? That's all I have to do to make you leave that stuffy old place of yours? Deal." he grinned.

The next day, she found herself cutting his hair to an even length. "There. How's it look?" she held up a mirror.

"Dumb. I look like some geek…kinda like that Pendleton guy from the Relaxation Center." he groaned staring at the hair that Mora had brushed out nicely.

"Wheatley is a nice guy, don't be mean…" she scolded, "And you have the power to change the style, but I'm the one cutting it from now on…"

He nodded, picking up the hair gel to play around with his hair. Mora watched him style it one way after the other, finally deciding on the spiked up in the back and to the front.

"Yeah?" he turned grinning. Mora laughed at the goofy look on his face.

"It looks great, actually, I've just never watched a guy play with his hair for thirty minutes strait." she stood up and played around with his bangs for a minute, "perfect."

Aaron stared down into her eyes, causing her to blush, "When does this party of yours start…?" she asked nervously walking over to her dresser, where she had picked out a nice long skirt and turtle neck sweater.

"Are you kidding me?" he asked over her shoulder, staring down at the outfit she had picked.

"Of course…" she raised a brow wondering what was wrong with it.

He grabbed the sweater and shook his head, "First, try something sleeveless and much less of this…thing…" he played with collar.

"I like it the way it is, thank you," she pulled it out of his hands and threw it on the bed, then began to search her drawers to find something that matched his description. She pulled out a lavender shirt that darkened to a darker purple at the bottom. It was short sleeved and had a slight v-neck on it, "better?"

He nodded, "Yeah, you have any jeans or something?" Mora frowned. She preferred to wear skirts whenever possible, but still, she had the jeans.

"Good, get dressed and whatever…I'll be back later to pick you up…" he waved, leaving the room.

Mora shook her head, smiling, before pulling on the clothing. She sat down in front of her mirror and brushed her hair. She slipped in a purple headband, as she always wore, and put a little bit of make-up on.

She smiled softly and put on her shoes, before cleaning up the mess cutting Aaron's hair had made.

He showed up about forty minutes later, wearing a red and black shirt with the sleeves having been ripped off, and black jeans, "You ready to crash the party?"

Mora nodded, then thought again, "What exactly is 'crashing' a party involve?" her deep violet turned towards him.

"Pretty much showing up uninvited and messing with the people there. It's actually pretty fun sometimes…I got into a fight once, heh, that taught him to mess around with me." he turned to see Mora giving him a disapproving look. Aaron rolled his eyes, "Oh, come on…you know me…"

The girl felt like turning and walking away. The music was terribly loud and she had no idea why someone hadn't come along and complained, yet. She felt sickened by the smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke that assaulted her the moment she walked in. If she hadn't known better, she would have just assumed this was some sort of zoo, with all of the teens and young adults dancing off each other, like the twisted animals they were.

Mora shook her head. "No, don't be mean like that…it's not right…" she sighed. Aaron was no longer standing beside her. She felt panic rise as she darted around the crowds to find him.

She felt relief wash over her when she spotted him standing by some table. She started walking towards him, but was cut off by a taller man with short brown hair. He grinned slyly, "Well, well, well, if it isn't Boring Mora, come to have a little fun…" he ran a finger down her cheek.

Mora shuddered in disgust, "If you'll excuse me, I must be going…" he laughed, grabbing her arm roughly, yanking her back against the wall, knocking the air from her and sending pain shooting through her spine.

"What's the rush, babe? I figure you could a little fun…" Mora choked, as he leaned closer and she could smell the thick scent of alcohol burn her senses. Suddenly a blast of fresh ( well, as fresh as the air in this living quarter could get) hit her. She opened her eyes to see Aaron slam his fist into the guy's jaw, sending the man stumbling back.

Aarons eyes burned and his face was twisted in fury, "DON'T you EVER touch her again!" he yelled, rushing forward to hit the man again and again. The tall brunette retaliated, hitting Aaron in the side of the face and in the gut.

Mora felt hot tears sting her eyes as the other people surrounded them cheering. Half cheered for Aaron, knowing he did this kind of stuff all the time, rarely losing. The other half knew the taller man studied martial arts and was a great fighter.

"That kid is dead meat…" some guy laughed behind Mora, "I mean did you even see Eric? He was hospitalized for two days because of that guy!"

She shook in fear that something wrong was going to happen. The tall man laughed knocking Aaron to the ground. He was about to kick him, when a man stepped out and pushed him back. He wore a black shirt with a green vest and a fedora style hat on his short dark blonde head, "Ya don't go kickin' a man when he's down. No wonder ya beat that other guy. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's a cheatin' man durin' a fight." he fixed his hat, "So guess what? I'm your new enemy." the man reared his fist back and knocked the guy out in one hit. The tall man fell back onto the floor.

"You okay there, kid?" Aaron coughed, trying to catch his breath, so he just nodded. Mora ran to his side.

Aaron just shook her off as he stood up. "Name's Rick," Rick introduced himself. A few girls walked up and started complimenting how strong he was and how 'awesome' that punch was.

He grinned and tilted his hat back, "Well, yeah…I'm pretty much a black belt in everything…karate, larate, jiu jitsu, kick-punching, belt making…bedroom…" he raised his brows, making the girls all giggle and laugh.

"I'll see you around, kid…" Rick walked off with the girls. Mora frowned as Aaron stormed out of apartment. She quickly followed him, before he could run off and do damage to anything or himself.

"Aaron? Wait!" she caught up to him just as he turned and kicked the wall and screamed out in rage. Everything that came out of his mouth was nearly incomprehensible. Mora managed to under stand a few of the words…at least enough to put together that he was embarrassed because Rick had to step in and save him.

The girl walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him. This always seemed to shut him up when he was screaming and yelling. As expected, he stopped, and wrapped his arms around her, burying his face on the top of her head.

"I'm…sorry…I didn't mean start that fight…but just seeing him put his hands on you…it…" he closed off and pushed away the fit of rage wanting to pass, so that he didn't hurt Mora, who wasn't going to let go until he was completely calm.

"I know, Aaron, it's okay…" she whispered, looking up and smiling warmly at him. Aaron stared down at her, making her squirm under the intense gaze. She saw a mix of emotions pass through his eyes, most of which she had seen before, yet there was one… It was the way he stared into her eyes. She felt her knees go weak and she knew the only thing keeping her from collapsing was the man holding her tightly against him.

Mora felt her face grow hot and she lightly bit her lip. She soon found Aaron's lips pressed against hers. This kiss was unlike their first. This one was full of tenderness. He was firm, but gentle, not rough. His lips slowly began moving against hers.

She felt a jolt run through her as she closed her eyes and leaned into the kiss. His hands pulled her close to him, as if at any moment she would be ripped away from him. He pulled away and pressed his forehead to hers. His eyes were still closed and his breathing was shallow.

Mora was no better off. Her lips tingled and her face was hot. She licked her lips and opened her eyes to look up at his face. The right side was bruised and swelling around his eye. She frowned lightly, reaching up to touch it. He hissed, opening his eyes.

"You need to get ice on this…" she whispered. Aaron smiled and kissed her again, this one still caring, but short.

He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and walked with her to her room. She made him sit on the couch, while she got him the cold compress she kept for things just like this. When she came back, she pressed it to his face.

Aaron hissed in pain again and closed his eyes tightly, waiting for the pain to subside.

A blush spread across Mora's cheeks again, as thoughts of helping take his mind off the pain slipped through her mind. She nervously bit her lip and leaned forward locking her lips to his. He was slightly shocked that she had kissed him first, but immediately returned the favor, pulling her into his lap.

He massaged her lips with his, pouring all of his pent up rage, joy, sadness, all of his emotion into the kiss. Mora moaned lightly and pulled away, only giving him one more small peck after that. She sent him back to his quarters with the ice pack and orders to get better.

XxxxxxxxxX

Mora blushed biting her lip. That was the night they un-officially gotten together. He had been so passionate in his kiss that she had forgotten anything, but him existed. She looked at him as he sipped his coffee, which was probably ice cold by now. By the looks of it, he was almost finished with the packet he was reading.

That made Mora happy. Not only was he doing his job, but he was almost finished. She yawned and rubbed the sleep away from her eyes. The clock read 11:30 p.m. She smiled. It was about this time, five years ago that they had gone to the party that night. It was also four years ago they had become 'officially' together.

XxxxxxxxX

A year had passed, and they were still no closer to getting the CHELL project running right. The computer had, on the first attempt to start her up, fizzled out and was fried. Apparently, one of the engineers in charge of her programming, forgot a crucial piece and it messed up her entire system, so many parts had to be rebuilt.

The second attempt left everyone confused. All of her data was there properly and functioning well, but she didn't do anything. Turned out her personality and interaction programming wasn't advanced enough.

Mora picked up the paper, "Today we are going to attempt to start her up again?" Glados nodded.

"Yes. They figured out what was wrong with her last time. It took months, but they finally were able to intertwine the personality and interaction functions, so she should actually talk back, even if it might be pre-recorded rather than sentient…" the woman watched as the engineers entered the start up code.

The robot started moving and looking around. The blue-grey optic narrowed, taking in her surroundings.

"Hello, CHELL," Glados spoke softly.

CHELL just stared blankly, not saying anything.

Glados frowned, "Can she understand me?"

"Yeah, she should be able to answer back with either 'hello' or 'greetings', at least those are her automated responses to the word 'hello', 'welcome', and 'greetings'…" he read off the chart.

"What about her speech software? Is it functional?"

He returned attention to the clipboard, then the computer, "It is completely operational…as well as her mic and speakers…"

Mora got caught gazing into the robot's eye. It sent shivers down her spine with it just staring. Something told her it was functioning far better that it let on. This computer knew exactly what it was and what was going on.

"Alright, fine…shut her down…we'll find out what the bug is later…" Glados threw the board to the table, then pressed her fingers to her temples, already getting fed up with the machine.

CHELL's head darted towards her, but dropped limply after the men input the shut down code. Mora slowly got closer to the robot's chassis. It was simply amazing that they could create something like that. Too bad Glados was probably fed up with it and ready to wheel in into the room where they stored the rest of the failed A.I.

The morality advisor sighed and set the paper down, only to feel strong arms wrap around her waist, "I have a surprise for you…" Aaron's deep voice sent shivers down her spine as he spoke softly in her ear.

She turned and he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door. "Um…see you tomorrow, ma'am!" Glados waved her off before going back into her studies.

The two twenty-two-years-olds walked quickly down the halls. She frowned, "Aaron, where are you taking me?"

"It's a surprise…" she sighed, knowing if she asked again, he'd just get angry and whatever the surprise was would probably never see the light of simulated day again. She hoped it wasn't a living creature, lest that actually did happen.

A few minutes later, he led her into a dark room.

"Aaron, really, what's going on he-" he flipped on the lights and she was amazed at what she was seeing. He had decorated a small space in her room with a bunch of flowers: roses, violets, little white ones that tickled her nose when she smelled the lovely aroma they gave off.

"This is so pretty, but how did you…?" he was leaning on the wall blushing.

"Logan helped me pick them out and Rose helped me arrange them…" he shook his head, trying to drop the conversation. He wasn't the kind of guy to go around giving his girl flowers whenever. It happened to be this special day and it was embarrassing the hell out of him.

Mora glance at the calendar, where she'd still yet to mark through the sixth of September. She gasped.

"Happy anniversary…" he whispered, pulling her close, "I know we never really made it official…but…well…" she smiled. He was always so cute when he was flustered, "I'm making it official now." he kissed her in the same passionate way he had everyday for the past year. She melted in his arms and wrapped hers around him, wishing the moment would last forever.

"I love you, Mora…" he whispered pulling away. She smiled softly, tears threatening to spill.

"I…I love you, too, Aaron…" she kissed him gently.

XxxxxxxxxxX

The next few years passed the same every time. The CHELL program was eventually shut down when Glados realized the machine was thinking on its own the entire time, but refusing to do as she was programmed. But even with that being shut down, they were able to pick up portal testing again and finally compacted it into a decent sized gun. Testing wasn't doing so well with it, since no one was willing to test it…

Each year, Aaron would always be an emotional wreck on the anniversary of his mother's death. He would spend that day just lying next to Mora, talking non-stop about his mom or dad or something bothering him about someone-or-other.

He would occasionally slip in some silly little romantic thing, that ended up embarrassing him in the end.

The man still got into reckless fights, but now he was learning to fight defensively so he wouldn't come back to Mora covered head to toe in bruises, whether he won or lost the fight.

Sometimes he would have fits of anger for nothing at all, but a bad day. And all it took was Mora wrapping her arms around him or pressing her forehead to his, until he was calm enough for her to move away. Typically, he wouldn't let her, he would just use it as an excuse to make-out with her.

Then, their year anniversary, he would put together a bouquet, leave it on her dresser and get her some ridiculous little piece of jewelry she knew she didn't need.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when Aaron started stretching in his seat, "Hey, babe…can you do my a favor and read this last paragraph out loud to me…I need to stretch my legs…" he stood up sliding his girlfriend the packet.

"Sure…" she began reading as Aaron walked around the room. "This entire time we've been sitting here, I haven't read a thing. The pages are all gibberish…" Mora glanced up to see random letters strung together to make non-sense words, "…I was actually taking this time to spend a peaceful night enjoying your company. I've told you before, I'm not a mushy guy…" she looked over at Aaron, who just happened to be turned away. "To tell you the truth, I'm sure I've loved you from the moment our eyes met that day in Glados' office. You've always had this power to make my anger go away. You bring out the best in me, and I know I bring out the fun in you." she smiled, "These past five years and half years have been the best. I can't remember what I used to feel like when I didn't have you by my side, but I can't imagine life with out you now.

"You're what calms me down when I'm angry. You're-" she was cut off by a deep voice behind her.

"You're what keeps me going when I feel there's nothing else…Mora , I love you…and I want to be able to tell you that for as long as my heart keeps beating." he reached into his uniform pocket and pulled out a little ring. Mora gasped feeling tears stream down her face.

"You've stuck by me when I was down right terrible to you…will you mar-"

"Have you guys seen my book on space?" a sixteen year old boy named Alex wandered in, "I think I lost it in he-"

"GET OUT!" Aaron stood up and threw the cold coffee at Alex, sending the boy screaming for his life down the hall ways.

Mora laughed and wiped away her tears then grabbed Aaron's chin making him face her. The angry look on his face faded when she smiled, as the clock switched to twelve o'clock in the morning.

"Yes…I will…" she kissed him softly as he slipped off the white glove of her uniform and replaced it with the little ring.

"Happy anniversary, babe…" he grinned, wrapping his arms around her tightly, with no intentions of letting go.

"Happy anniversary, sweet heart…" she wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing his face down to hers, interlocking their lips.

ANGERXXThe EndXXMORALITY

XxxxxxxxxxxxX

So what did you think? It actually ended the way I planned, which is surprising, considering I always have trouble when it comes to ending anything XD I'm actually really proud of this work XD

Lady Pyrien

I don't own any of them, but I do own the human versions and this little plot, (except clichés XD)


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